Challah – Food for the Soul
by Rabbi Chaim Brown
“B-reishis,” “ In the beginning…”, which marks the start of
creation, is interpreted by Chazal as a hint to the mitzvah of
separating challah, which the Torah calls “reishis arisoseichem,”
the first dough. The concept of “reishis” -- first -- used with
respect to challah is not to be taken in the sense of chronological
sequence, like the first one to finish a race, but in the sense of
logical hierarchy, a first cause or first order of business necessary
before other matters can be attended to. Before creation could
proceed, there had to be a mitzvah of challah.
One of the keys to appreciating the significance of hafrashas
challah lies understanding the context in which the command
first appears. After the return of the spies and their discouraging
report, the Jewish people were told their punishment of having to
undergo a 40 year sojourn in the desert. Immediately afterwards,
the Torah commands the mitzvah
of challah, which could only be
performed in the land of Israel.
On one level, this commandment
intimates a consolation that,
although deferred, the dream
of entering the land of Israel
remained the ultimate destiny
of the Jewish people. However,
there is also a lesson inherent in
the mitzvah of challah itself that
serves as a response to the spies.
Maharal contrasts the mitzvah of
bikkurim, which is also referred
to in the Torah as reishis, with
the mitvah of hafrashas challah.
The mitzvah of bikkurim entails
separating new fruit while the fruit
is in its pristine state, untouched
by man’s hand, and bringing
that fruit to the kohein in the Bais haMikdash. Bikkurim is an
acknowledgement of the kedusha inherent in the natural bounty
given by Hashem. Although the Torah gives us no specific date
for the episode of the spies, we are told that this story occurred
in the days of bikkurei anavim, the blossoming of the first grapes.
The concept of bikkurim relates to the way of life that the spies
wished to preserve, that is the way of life experienced by the
Jews in the desert where mann fell from the sky, water from a
miraculous well of water, and protection from the Divine clouds
that revealed Hashem’s presence. These wonders sustained life
without the normal means of human effort, but they were to cease
upon the Israelites’ entrance into their destined homeland. The
Jewish people would be forced from Hashem’s overt protection
into the heat of war, forced to deal with the necessity of taming and
farming the land, and challenged to build a kingdom surrounded

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by enemies.
The spies could appreciate the holiness of bikkurim, the pristine
gifts of Hashem’s benevolence, but they could not comprehend
how the barren wilderness of the land of Israel could be
transformed as well into a makom kadosh, a holy place. They
lacked the perspective of hafrashas challah, separating challah,
which can take place only after wheat has been turned to flour,
mixed with water and yeast to make dough, and kneaded by
human hands. Sanctity is not found only in an idyllic cocoon
of holiness separated from the world, but is to be found even
within the challenges and daily efforts of life that the Torah itself
demands we engage in for the betterment of the world and our
surroundings. That is the sanctity epitomized by the mitzvah of
hafrashas challah.

The mann that nourished the Jews was imbued
with spiritual effect,
as Chazal say, “lo
nitna Torah elah
l’ochlei
haman”
--the Torah was
given only to those
who ate mann.
Nevertheless, the
food produced in
the land of Israel
through the labor
and toil of the
farmer engendered
a greater sense of
appreciation for Hashem.
The mann that nourished the Jews was imbued with spiritual
effect, as Chazal say, “lo nitna Torah elah l’ochlei haman” --the
Torah was given only to those who ate mann. Nevertheless, the
food produced in the land of Israel through the labor and toil of
the farmer engendered a greater sense of appreciation for Hashem.
R’ Tzadok HaKohein (Tzidkas haTzadik #247 ) points out that
the first bracha of birchas hamazon, [Grace after meals] which
Moshe instituted in the desert, addresses Hashem in third-person,
while the second bracha, which was instituted by Yehoshua after
entering the land, addresses Hashem in second-person. Precisely
because of its great spirituality, the mann created a sense of
distance. Indeed, the halacha for saying the beracha on bread
calls for holding it with all ten figures to remind us of the ten steps